NEWARK - More than a decade ago, a Licking County judge predicted Roger Black would be back in a courtroom, charged with raping more women.

And Tuesday, that's exactly where Black was.

Black, 32, a convicted rapist and registered sex offender, is charged with three counts of rape and two counts of kidnapping for reportedly forcing two women to engage in sexual conduct with him in October 2015.

His trial began Tuesday afternoon.

Assistant Licking County Prosecutor Chris Reamer asked the jury of five women and seven men to consider whether Black was unlucky enough to have two unrelated women accuse him of rape about six days apart.

"Or is this a situation where Roger Black ... waited and looked for a woman to come by that might meet his sexual desires," Reamer said.

Black is accused of offering a ride to a woman on East Main Street on Oct. 11 before sexually assaulting her. He's also accused of giving a ride to another woman on Oct. 16 and forcing her to engage in sexual conduct.

The woman who accepted a ride on Oct. 11 testified Tuesday afternoon. She said once she was back at his residence on Orchard Street, she fell asleep in a bedroom and awoke to find Black on the bed with her and a knife being held in her face.

The woman, who disclosed her past history of abusing drugs and alcohol and criminal record, said she tried to tell Black she wasn't interested in having sex with him, but Black handcuffed her behind her back and pulled her pants off.

The woman testified she was able to escape when Black headed down a set of stairs leading to the basement and ran out the front door to a neighbor's home. The neighbor and his roommate testified about finding the woman near the porch asking for help.

The alleged victim said she declined to participate in a sexual assault kit and medical exam because she was frustrated with the police response and felt she was not being believed by officers who responded to the scene.

Black's attorney, Kort Gatterdam, focused his cross examination on the woman's truthfulness, asking her about whether she had stolen from people in the past to support her addiction and saying she had felt comfortable enough with Black to ride in his car with him for several hours and agreeing to stay in his home.

In his opening statement, Gatterdam said Black had been trying to help both women "out of the kindness of his heart" and engaged in consensual sex with both of them. He said the first victim had asked Black to use the handcuffs and threatened to "claim rape" if Black didn't get her drugs and the second victim had sex with Black after a fight with a boyfriend.

The second victim is expected to testify later on in the trial, which Judge David Branstool said could last through Thursday.

The jury is also expected to decide whether the crimes Black faces were committed with a sexual motivation. If a jury agrees there was a sexual motivation, Branstool will have to decide whether a sexually violent predator and repeat violent offender apply.

Those repeat specifications are because of a 2005 conviction for two counts of rape. Black was sentenced to eight years in prison as a result of a plea agreement in that case. He was found guilty of forcing a teenage girl who was on her way to school to walk with him and raped her multiple times at knifepoint over a period of about four hours.

At the time of his 2005 conviction, Judge Thomas Marcelain wrote that Black showed "no remorse or responsibility for his actions, which also makes rehabilitation unlikely, causing the Court to find the defendant poses the greatest likelihood of committing future crimes."

Black was released from prison in 2012 after serving the entirety of his eight-year sentence. He went back to prison in 2013 after a parole violation, according to records from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, and was later re-released.

In October 2015, he was back in the Licking County Justice Center, charged with kidnapping two different women and forcing them to engage in sexual conduct at knifepoint.

This time, prosecutors are seeking to put Black away for life. The specifications, included in an amended indictment filed in August, allow for the possibility of a "life tail" or the potential of an indefinite sentence up to the remainder of Black's natural life could be imposed by Branstool.